Share time...

This little birdie and several of his friends

(following my post) are offered up for your

personal use!

Dear Friends in the Land of Blog,
Life has a way of altering one's plans to be a faithful little blogger. Doesn't it? Being in the throngs of another glorious summer and all its distractions can add to that mix as well. While I so enjoy what my brain believes is a more laid-back, mellow season of the year, my body tells me there is still plenty of go-go-go.

Hearing that the Gross National Product of our country (for those who slept through Econ, like me for instance, it is a measurement used to determine the fiscal health of our nation) depends on robust consumer spending, my patriotism sent me off to do some antique shopping lately! Feel free to use this line when it suits your purposes. Copyright free.

Actually, that is only partly true, if I were to be totally honest. Part of my out and about was due to lots of chauffering with time to kill in between drop offs and pick ups, and I needed some fun distractions. Just seem to be caught in one of those seasons where the plates of life are especially heavy, with no end in sight. Lots of stuff coming from many directions that can bog down one's heart. Times where you feel you are being tested to the limit. We all seem to find ourselves in that place, more often than we care to as we journey through our allotted days.

But just as physical exercise strengthens our body's muscles, I know IN MY BRAIN (limited as it feels at times), that hard times strengthens our faith, our character, and our need for others. I also believe it helps sharpen our sensitivity to others when they find themselves on the shores of rocky times. Having tasted firsthand what even a small gesture of kindness can do for a weary heart, hopefully it spurs us on to offer timely doses of encouragement. A favorite passage of mine in Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life--"God never wastes a hurt! ...The very experiences that you have resented or regretted most in life---the ones you've wanted to hide and forget---are the experiences God wants to use to help others."

For me, those types of sentiments offer hope and encouragement. So I hope if you're struggling with your own heavy loads that it will offer you some encouragement as well. Something good can and will come from having walked (crawled?) along the hard roads of life.

And speaking of encouragement, it is one of the reasons that the land of blog and my affection for such a place, continues to attract me. While initially drawn in by the wealth of creativity, I've found it to be a place of encouragement as well. Some, and bless their hearts, have a way of sharing their life -their joys - their successess -their struggles- in such a transparent way that it blesses and encourages me deeply. And like me, they often express how much their times of creating becomes a therapy of sorts. I can so relate. So I guess we shouldn't be surprised to see the intertwining of real life and art. For many, the two are inseparable.

Hence, in an effort to share and give back to the land of blog, I'm posting these darling little birdies from my personal collection. Please feel free to copy them for your own personal use. The copyright dates (had to use a magnifying glass!) range from 1918 to the early 20's. So these would be deemed to be in the public domain. I have eight more that came in this grouping and I'll eventually scan them in to share as well.

You should be able to click on the images to enlarge and then right click to save them to a file on your own computer. Having said that, it leads me to a question. Does anyone know why some of my images can be enlarged by clicking and some can't??? I've looked through my settings and can't seem to find a logical answer in that venue. Help!

Blessings on your day...
xoxo
Sue